Randolph, Edmund (1753-1813), a Virginia statesman, presented the famous Virginia Plan to the Constitutional Convention in 1787. The plan favored the large states by calling for representation in Congress based on population or the tax contribution made by each state. Randolph refused to sign the Constitution because he thought it would create dangerously powerful presidents. Nevertheless, he supported its adoption at Virginia’s ratifying convention.
In 1789, President George Washington appointed Randolph the nation’s first attorney general and, in 1794, named him secretary of state. However, Randolph resigned as secretary of state in 1795 after he was unjustly accused of trying to sell diplomatic secrets to France.
Randolph was born on Aug. 10, 1753, near Williamsburg, Virginia. He was educated at the College of William and Mary. During the American Revolution (1775-1783), he served as then General George Washington’s aide-de-camp (assistant). Randolph became attorney general of Virginia in 1776 and later served as a member of the Continental Congress and as governor of Virginia. Randolph also was one of Aaron Burr’s attorneys when Burr was tried for treason in 1807 (see Burr, Aaron [Tried for treason]). Randolph died on Sept. 12, 1813.
